The initial effort to list the species of Lepidoptera that occur in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is nearly completion. This effort has resulted in a list that is nearly complete for larger moths of the park and about half complete for the smaller moths (over 1,600 spp. Total). During 2004 the Lepidoptera TWIG refocused its efforts on gathering DNA and tissue samples from species in the park. With the cooperation of Dr. Paul Hebert (University of Guelph), we were able to obtain sequences of a segment of the CO1 gene from more than 600 species in the park and, with support from the American Museum of Natural History, have more than 200 species cryopreserved. This grant seeks to extend this dataset by sampling the large group of late-spring, early-summer Lepidoptera, and by using existing museum collections to obtain samples from very early, very late and rare species. These additional samples will help us reach our goal of 75% of the known park fauna sampled by the end of the year. This dataset will be very valuable to researchers working with groups of eastern Lepidoptera by allowing them to identify fragments and immature stages of insects, and providing potential clues about species identity in closely related pairs or groups of species.

Principal Investigator

PI Name:  Dr. Brian Scholtens

PI Organization:  College of Charleston, SC